


By Ikra's Hand

by AshesToStars



Category: Samurai Jack (Cartoon)
Genre: I honestly can't believe I wrote this, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 09:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11438007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshesToStars/pseuds/AshesToStars
Summary: A night of peaceful sleep...the perfect night for the manipulator to strike.





	By Ikra's Hand

Ikra had been pretending to sleep for a while now. Damn that Samurai...he stayed up so late some nights during these travels...absentmindedly staring off into the sky or the fire and just sitting there like the FOOL he is, without lying down to sleep. Each night...they were growing closer and the bond of trust was getting wound tighter in his gullible soul. Admittedly, she didn't expect this journey to stretch on so ridiculously LONG. Night after night, day after day being spent with the Samurai...the worst person in her eyes. But now...he was going to sleep...and now, she was ready. Ikra sat up, and looked over towards the dark silhouette of the Samurai's deeply sleeping form.

"...Foolish, foolish Samurai..." Her whisper was barely even that. In truth, she had partially intended to say that in her head...but she couldn't help but let the soft insult tumble from her lips. The green-skinned woman crawled, on her hands and knees over to Jack, listening to his soft breathing with an intense anticipation. Ikra reached behind her and retrieved a sharpened dagger she was hiding in her dress. She lifted it above her head, picturing the moments sure to come...  
The sound of the sharpened blade entering the other's flesh...the utter betrayal in his eyes as he realized the truth...the blood, and of course that fantastic moment where all the life left his eyes and he went limp.

"Ikra?"

She freezes. His voice comes out a tiny whisper, and he wasn't looking towards her, thank Gods. Ikra instantly hid her knife once more and cleared her throat roughly.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She muttered in response, watching as he grunted gently and sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking at her. 

"Mm, yes. But it is alright." He brushed his currently undone hair back and smiled softly at Ikra, before it shifted into a concerned frown. "Ikra, it is very late. You were asleep earlier...is everything alright?"

"I...Well;" Ikra paused, looking off to the side, trying to fish for a lie as she heard the other's obnoxiously worried question. After a moment of scanning her manipulative brain for something, she had an idea and spoke; "I had...an awful dream, Jack."

"...Oh no. Ikra...I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"...We were right there. We saw the artifact and we were so close...so close to your quest's completion and my pain's end. We were there and nothing was wrong and we were happy, and laughing and you just...died. I don't know what happened, but you collapsed and died on me, and it was awful...Watching you go lifeless like that, I..." She let her voice shake for effect. "Gods...Jack....I..."

"Ikra..." Jack reached over, and rested a hand on hers. "I can assure you that I am not going anywhere. I have cheated death for so long now, and I intend to do it many more times."

"...I trust you, Jack. I trust that you're telling the truth." Ikra responded, faking a genuine smile in hopes he would merely go to sleep.

"...I had a bit of an, um...emotionally charged dream as well, actually." 

Oh great.

"...What was it about?" 

"...My parents." Jack seemed to flinch at that word, pain glinting in his eyes as he looked away and moved his hand. "It was a beautifully simple dream. We were enjoying tea in a garden together, speaking of simple things like stars and flowers."

"...What were your parents like, Jack?" Ikra asked, crossing her arms and scooting closer to him. Being a manipulator was hard work, but information like this would make her feel positively peachy. Knowing his pain...ha! How wonderful.

"My father was stricter than my mother, but he was not cruel or unkind to me. He taught me how to put honor and peace above all, and taught me of justice in ways that have helped me on my journey. We used to walk together. Just walk. Sometimes in silence...it was so nice...so calm. It was like meditation, in a way, and I miss it a lot. The silence is unkind now, Ikra. It haunts me. It whispers to me...reminds me of my failures and reminds me of all that I have lost." A sigh escaped him as he changed his position. "My mother was undoubtedly the sweetest woman on the planet. She had a big heart and she intended to make everyone around her better every single day of her life. She held me when I cried, she told me tales of fantasy so that I was happy and imaginative and she gave me a kindness to emulate and look up to. I wish, with all of my heart that I could hear her voice once more."

Parents...an odd concept. Ikra- or rather, Aku- never had parents. Born of pure evil, there was no room for such a thing...  
Could it really be that one could so blindly admire a pair of people this way? She examined Jack's face, looking for his emotions when...he had started crying.  
"Jack...?"

"I-I am sorry..." He barely got the words out before his voice shifted, and cracked. He hugged his knees, and tears kept falling from his eyes, misted with an intense sadness. "I miss them." Jack sounded suddenly miserable, and before long he was sobbing gently into his knees. Ikra blinked, watching him break down with an unsure feeling in her chest. She reached over, and placed a hand on his shoulder...not expecting him to suddenly pull her into a tight embrace. Awkwardly, she returned it, and rubbed his back. "I do not know...how I can keep doing this..."

"...You can keep going, Jack. You have to. For them." Ikra was shocked by her own words. She was a better manipulator than she thought. "Everything they taught you...you have to prove that they're true. To this world...to those who oppose you. To Aku. Prove them right, Jack...that is the least you can do...prove that justice is real, and that it works. You can, you have and you will, understand?"

"...Thank you, Ikra." Jack replied through shuddering sobs. He sniffed, and pulled back from the embrace...but not before planting a soft kiss on Ikra's cheek. THAT sure caught her offguard, her cheeks turning a soft discolored red as she stared at him. "I apologize. I wanted to thank you, for that short talk."

"It...It's alright." She stuttered in response. 

"We should try to get some sleep now." 

As the words are spoken, Ikra nodded and muttered a good night, walking over to her other spot and lying down to pretend to sleep. As she lied there...she thought heavily on what had happened. All of that speak about his parents...and the minor breakdown...  
Ikra-...Aku had always seen Jack so strong...and even in moments of weakness, it had never been as soft as that. But beyond all that, he could not understand the way it made him...her...feel. Was this just an Ikra thing? Was this persona too far? No matter...Jack was asleep now.

She crawled back over, and pulled her dagger out...being sure to stay deadly silent.  
She lifted it above her head...

And she began shaking. Trembling.   
Her hands would not stay steady as she stared down at Jack's sleeping figure, and the dagger somehow suddenly felt so heavy in her grip. Ikra just sat there...dagger above her head, shaking hard and her eyes fixated on the peacefully sleeping face of the samurai...

And she lowered her head, and in turn...lowered her dagger. 

Ikra sighed, putting it away and gazing at him for another few moments...before she leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek. Stealing and destroying the artifact was enough. 

He did not need to die by Ikra's hand.


End file.
